The European Union expressed its faith in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on Monday, but President Shimon Peres believes there is not much time left. `We are starting the countdown for peace, and time is running out,` he said Tuesday at a Galilee convention in the northern city of Beit Shean.

`There are serious processes of de-legitimizing Israel, radical Islamization in the region and Iran arming itself. We must come to our senses now. There is not much time left for discussions,` the president warned.

Addressing the situation in the Galilee, Peres estimated that a permanent peace agreement would speed up the development of the area.

`There is no peace that is not regional peace. There is no country which not affected by the global economy, and security no longer depends on one country. In this era missiles can be fired on us not just from Gaza, but even from Alaska.`

Addressing the Carmel disaster, Peres noted that `in the recent fire we saw that the front is now in the home front.` He said he believed the Israeli society had two main missions to accomplish: `Not to have one hungry baby in this country, and not to have one young man or woman without a bachelor`s degree. Not giving them an educational admission ticket to the modern world would be injustice.`

The European Union pressed the Israeli government on Monday to freeze settlement building, offered the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip more aid and urged Israel to open Gaza`s border crossings more fully to increase trade.

EU foreign ministers `noted with regret` Israel`s failure to extend a moratorium on construction of Jewish settlements, and took a stand at odds with the decision by the United States to drop efforts to persuade Israel to freeze settlement building.

The president stressed that Israelis need to take the subject seriously. `There is a window of opportunity that openned and there is not a feeling that it will stay open for much more time.`

Defense Minister Ehud Barak Tuesday morning echoed Peres` sentiment, saying that without a peace deal, Israel`s situation will deteriorate and the delegitimization campaigns in the third world will increase, Israel Radio reported. Barak called this a danger no less than Hizbullah, in an interview with Tom Brokaw, according to the report.

The president also addressed a letter published last week by dozens of rabbis banning the sale or rental of property to Arabs, saying it contradicts the `full right to live, work and study` wherever one wants. He added that there is no contradiction between religion and democracy - Moses was the first democrat and he reminded us that `you lived in Egypt.``